TEHRAN, May 19, YJC - Head of the Strategic Research Center of Iran’s Expediency Council Ali Akbar Velayati lauded huge turnout in the 12th presidential election, and reiterated that the Iranian nation are the ultimate winners of the elections.

TEHRAN,Young Journalists Club(YJC) - The elections are a factor helping the country’s unity and showing the Establishment’s power, Velayati told reporters after casting his vote at a polling station in Tehran on Friday.

He added that, as Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei has said, the final winner of the elections is the Iranian nation.

Velayati continued that since the victory of the Islamic Revolution in 1979, the Iranian nation has been present in all political scenes and created golden pages in the country’s history with their votes.

Iranians headed to the polls as soon as the stations opened to elect the country’s 8th president.

There are four candidates seeking the presidency in the polls, namely incumbent President Hassan Rouhani, Ebrahim Raisi, Mostafa Hashemitaba, and Mostafa Aqa-Mirsalim. Two other hopefuls, Eshaq Jahangiri and Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, dropped out of the race in favor of Rouhani and Raisi, respectively.

Concurrently, the 5th City and Village Councils elections are being held across the country.

Near 63,500 polling stations across Iran opened on Friday morning. Around 14,000 mobile ballot boxes have been also prepared for inaccessible and rural areas.

According to the Interior Ministry, the election process involves around 1.5 million executive forces and monitors, 350,000 security forces, 70,000 inspectors, and around 100,000 representatives of local governors.

Authorities say the number of eligible voters stands at above 56,400,000, more than 1,350,000 of whom are allowed to vote for the first time.

More than 600 local and foreign reporters and journalist cover the news of the elections.